I'm in Love With a Killer
by ChibiLovett
Summary: Julia wakes after her attempted murder with a new form, new abilities, and a new personality warped by her hatred and changed nature. Yet she still can't shake the love she felt for her killer beforehand. Barnabas is also somehow intrigued by her new self, but is it love or hate? (T for future violence, gore, and suggestive but not graphic sexual content. Eventual Barnalia.)
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I actually had a MAJOR blonde moment while writing this in which I didn't even think about the fact Collinwood burned to the ground at the end, buuuuut I didn't actually realize it until I was halfway done. D: So I am fully aware of the problem, but I couldn't really change it by that point, and I love this story so much that I don't really care! :D I hope you enjoy it anyways!

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A woman pulled herself onto a Collinsport dock, gasping for air as she finally surfaced after God knows how long. Her newly developed claws made deep scratches in the wood as she dragged herself out of the water. She coughed, creating a small puddle from the water leaving her lungs. A fisherman working overtime saw her and ran over to help her. "Hey lady, you okay?" She looked up at him and he couldn't believe his eyes. She looked like she was already dead. "You look like you need a doctor. I can give you a ride if you need it."

The woman looked back down and her orange hair, darker than usual from being so wet, fell in front of her face. "I...I don't need a doctor. I'm just...really thirsty."

"Thirsty? I can get you some water if you want."

"So...thirsty." She looked up again and her lips had twisted into a smirk, revealing a pair of razor sharp fangs. She pounced on the man and pinned him to the ground, successfully knocking the air out of him. Her eyes were wild and she was licking her lips as she stared down at him. Her claws dug into his arms as she held them down. "I think you'll do nicely." Before the man could utter a word in response, or even attempt to scream, she sunk her fangs into the flesh of his neck and drank every drop of blood that came through the wounds, draining the man dry within seconds.

She stood up after and licked her bloodied fingers as well as her lips. It wasn't enough. She still was not yet satisfied. She needed more, more of that delicious liquid life.

Overcome by a thirst, an uncontrollable hunger unlike any she had ever felt before, she scouted the small town for more. She spotted a couple coming out of a late movie and pulled them both away into a nearby alley. She sat them both against the wall and put her finger to her lips, signaling for them to be silent. Confused and scared, they obeyed. She crawled up closer to the woman and licked her neck, then bit down hard. Soon after, the woman fell over, limp and lifeless. Then she turned to the man and put her finger to her lips again. His breathing was heavy, his heartbeat a loud drumming in both of their ears, until a few moments later, it was halted forever.

Still she was not satisfied. Still she craved more of that sweet, crimson drug. Victim after victim, her death toll ran high, until at last her hunger was sated.

Once finished, she wandered through the darkness to the only place she could think of, the one place she could call home. She entered without even knocking and walked up the stairs and down the hallways until she reached her room. She shut the door behind her and plopped down on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. What had happened? The last little while was just one big blur. She remembered hooking herself up to the usual iv of Barnabas's blood, laying down with a magazine, and then nothing. Clearly her self-treatments had worked, but that still didn't explain anything.

"No use worrying about it now," she thought. "Maybe I can ask someone in the morning if they know anything."

The next morning, she closed her curtains as soon as the sun began to peek over the horizon. Later, after she heard others begin to move about the house, she rolled out of bed, changed clothes, threw on her sunglasses, and left for breakfast as usual. Upon entering the dining room, she noticed Roger was missing, and every eye in the room was on her. Barnabas, especially, seemed even paler than usual, and dropped his fork upon seeing her. "Doctor Hoffman? What," he cleared his throat, trying to sound calmer, "what are you doing here?"

Julia walked through the awkward silence and took her usual seat before answering. "I'm home. Is that a problem?"

Elizabeth was clearly glaring at her, looking highly annoyed. "Where were you? We needed you yesterday, badly, or rather, David did."

"I got an urgent call from Windcliff. They said they needed my help with some new patient."

"We pay you and house you and even pay to keep up with the absurd amount of alcohol you drink, and you can't even be here the one time we really need you, all because they needed a little help?"

"Like I said, it was urgent. I couldn't say no. Besides, how was I supposed to know Roger was going to pick that day to leave?"

Elizabeth stayed silent after that, trying to avoid a big argument. Barnabas, however, soon broke the silence again. "Doctor Hoffman, may I please speak with you in private for a moment?"

Julia looked over at him, slightly confused, but nodded anyways. "Yeah, sure." She stood up and followed him into a nearby room, far enough to be out of earshot of everyone else.

Barnabas roughly pinned her up against a wall and eyed her angrily. His voice was a low growl as he snarled at her. "What in God's name are you doing coming back here? I already killed you once, and I will not hesitate even slightly to do it again."

Julia's blood ran cold and her eyes were again just as they were the last time they met: glistening with fear. "Wh-what are you talking about? You never-" She paused as suddenly everything came flooding back. He had caught her with her iv and, in his rage, killed her on the spot. Now he had her again, but she had an advantage she didn't before. She was every bit as immortal as he was. Realizing this, her fear faded into a smirk. "Right. Now I remember. Luckily I had already gotten enough to transform myself."

"You loathsome woman. You deserve this curse far more than I."

"Call it what you like, sweetie. I get to stay young and beautiful, for which I will pay any price." Julia pushed Barnabas off of her and slowly walked towards him. "You said it yourself. You killed me once, and I will never forgive you for that. It just sucks for you that I didn't stay dead."

With every step the doctor took towards him, Barnabas took a step back, surprised by her forcefulness and the intensity in her gaze. "You know Elizabeth will not continue to allow your residence here once I tell her."

"You know, she wouldn't, but here's the thing. If you tell her that, you'd have to confess to my murder. What would she say if she knew you killed me in cold blood?"

Barnabas finally backed into a wall and raised his hands in surprise. "She will understand perfectly once I explain what you were doing and why you are now the same horrible monster that I am."

"Let me put this in blunter terms, Barnabas." Julia pressed herself up against the old vampire, held his hands affectionately by his sides, and put her face so close to his their noses nearly touched. "You tell Liz to kick me out, and no one else in this house besides you will see the sun the next morning. Understand me?"

Barnabas swallowed hard and nodded his head, unable to speak.

"Good. Don't tell anyone about that either, or I'll do it then too." Julia's lips curved into a smirk as she released his hands and pulled away. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to get back to breakfast." Without another word, she headed for the door, blowing a kiss and winking just before leaving.

Barnabas was frozen for a few more moments as he tried to process what had just happened. Julia, who had been timid and submissive in the face of his rage before, was now much more confident and downright psychotic. He knew he should be worried, yet somehow he found himself intrigued by her transformation instead. Clearly some of the old Julia Hoffman still remained since she was just as she was the first time until she remembered the events of their last meeting, but how much? He couldn't help but wonder. He also knew that, while being a vampire gave her the freedom to literally drink to her unbeating little heart's content without fear of health repercussions, it also meant alcohol would have less of an effect and would wear off much quicker. The same went for those pills he always saw her take. Perhaps it would get her to stop, and a completely sober Julia was one he had yet to ever meet.


	2. Chapter 2

Back in the dining room, Julia sat back down and couldn't help but notice Vicki's change in appearance and decided to do a quick test to confirm her suspicions. "Getting a bit creative with your makeup now, are we, Vicki?"

"No. I don't wear much makeup."

Elizabeth patted her mouth with a napkin and cleared her throat. "No point in beating around the bush, Julia. Everyone knows now."

Julia raised her eyebrows and slumped back into her chair. "Really? Then let me be a bit more frank." She looked at Josette again and her face as well as her tone made it unmistakable that she was mocking the woman. "So you're a blood-sucking monster now, too, eh?"

Josette looked down and frowned, not having considered her decision in that aspect before. She had hastily made the decision to become a vampire purely so she could be with Barnabas. She was ashamed to admit that she hadn't, until now, even thought of the consequences of that choice.

"Well, Vicki, I guess that answers my question."

Josette turned to the doctor, feeling suddenly livid towards her. "My name is not Vicki!" She realized her voice had raised and took a deep breath before continuing. "It's Josette."

Julia chuckled. "Oh so that's true too? You really are the reincarnation of his beloved Josette?" She spoke the last few words with a mocking tone, and almost gagged on them as she did. Somehow, even after what he did to her, she still found herself jealous of his devotion to her when she had done nothing but sit and be all sweet and innocent. She, herself, had kept his secret and done another "special favor" during the first transfusion that she doubted "Josette" ever did. What was so special about her anyways?

"Yes. I love him, and he turned me so that we could be together forever, just as he promised me the first time around."

"Oh stop it with that sentimental crap before I puke!"

"Doctor Hoffman!" came a voice from behind the doctor. She turned around to see Barnabas glaring at her. "Do not insult her."

"And what are you gonna do about it?"

Barnabas's hand began to raise, ready to strangle her right there for as long as he felt like it, but Julia's eyes flashed and the same grin from before spread across her face. His hand balled into a fist and dropped to his side again as he gritted his teeth and returned to his seat.

The rest of the breakfast went by as usual, without another word being spoken by anyone at the table. Julia was the first to leave as soon as she finished her meal. She went up to her room, explored a little since she had gone straight to bed the night before, and found it untouched. While she didn't have any clue how long she had actually been gone, it didn't seem to have been too long, but she still half expected Barnabas, or at least his lackey, to have raided her jewelry or something. With a smile, she sat down on the bed and squeezed the comforter on top of it. After spending so long wrapped in a sheet and tied up in the ocean, her bed, hard as it was, felt like paradise. While she didn't plan to sleep, she lay down anyways and her arms fell up by her head. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply as another smile appeared on her face.

Shortly after, she heard a knock on her open door, which caused her to open her eyes again as her head flopped over to see who it was. Barnabas stood in the doorway, looking much less angry. "What do you want now?"

"I just had an inquiry for you, as to whether or not you were truly serious about your threat. Would you really murder the family that sheltered and fed you for the last two years?"

"You make me sound like a dog, Barnabas." Julia sat up again and stretched before speaking, then let out the deep breath she was holding. "Look. Okay, so I might have grown a little attached to them...or, at least some of them. Bitchy Lizzy could take a dive off Widow's Hill for all I care. But just because I care about them doesn't mean I wouldn't do it."

"You mean you would kill those you love just to prove a point to me?"

"To put it so bluntly, yes." Within a fraction of a second, she was suddenly right in front of him, right up in his face. "If you think I'm bluffing, feel free to try me."

Barnabas swallowed hard and lifted his hands to clutch her arms and push her farther away. "No no. There will be no need to prove that."

After being pushed away, a bit of the old Julia began to peek through again. Her eyes now shone with a slight sadness rather than insanity and bloodlust, but she still retained a strong appearance. "So can I ask you a question then?"

Barnabas' confusion was clearly shown on his shadowed features. "Of course, Doctor Hoffman."

"Do you really love Josette? Or are you just after the 'forbidden fruit', so to speak?"

"Of course I love her. She was reincarnated just in time for me to be released from my underground prison. Surely it must be a work of fate."

Julia's eyes shone again from the increased sadness, making her strong exterior a bit harder to keep up, but somehow she at least still mostly managed thanks to the slight anger and jealousy that came with it. "Okay. Whatever. Just go, alright? I want to be alone for a while." Julia turned towards the bed again to hide the pain that was getting harder to mask.

"Are you sure you are-?"

She quickly turned back around to him, her eyes filling with tears that she tried to stop at least until he left. "I said go!"

With a small bow, Barnabas did as she bade him and closed the door gently behind him.

Julia sat back down on the bed and wiped her eyes, noticing the mascara and eyeliner smeared on her fingers and sighing. She couldn't even remember the last time she cried like this, nor was she totally sure why she was. She knew he didn't love her, that much was obvious. He did kill her, after all. And yet, for some reason, she was still head over heels for him. In fact, her feelings felt even stronger now than they had been before. Once she thought about it, the answer to at least the first mystery was painfully obvious. She hadn't had a drink or a single pill since she came back. For once there was absolutely nothing to stop all these painful emotions from pouring out and showing full force. She now remembered one of the reasons why she had started with them in the first place. All of this felt horrible, even that everlasting spark of love, which is supposed to be the happiest thing a person can feel, was torture.

With that final thought, her mind was made up. She had to shut it all up the best way she knew how, which meant raiding the liquor.

The doctor made her way through the great manor, on a hunt for booze, until she heard Barnabas' voice coming from a nearby room, the door cracked open slightly. Despite her instincts telling her otherwise, she crept up to the door and peeked through the small opening to see what was happening.

Barnabas and Josette were together on a couch. Both vampires were smiling and she was lying on his lap, looking up at him. "I see the doctor's return hasn't really bothered you." Josette said.

"No, it has not."

"You don't think she'll be out for revenge or anything?" She joked, giggling slightly.

Barnabas' smile grew a little wider. Hers was so beautiful, her eyes smiling right along with it and glistening in the dim light of the room. "I do not think so."

"You said she was infatuated with you before. You don't think she'll try and take you, do you?"

"If her feelings somehow still persist, then I will not let her. I am yours, my darling. I said we would be together forever, and I never break promises."

Josette sat up and turned around so she was sitting beside him. She placed a hand on his cheek and turned his head to face her. "Then forever it is, my love." She kissed him deeply and he responded by wrapping his arms around her and pulling her in closer.

That was enough. Julia quietly moved away and back up to her room, giving up on trying to numb herself for the night, not wanting anyone to see her so upset and vulnerable. She hurried back to her room and plopped down into her bed, hoping sleep would come quickly so she could at least escape that way.


	3. Chapter 3

A day passed since Julia had her heart broken for the 2nd time in less than a week. However, she tried to forget about it and went on with her everyday life again as usual. It was clear Barnabas would never belong to her. He was too in love with "Josette". While wandering aimlessly around the great manor, she was suddenly stopped as she heard David's voice from behind her. "Hey Julia, can I talk to you?"

She turned around and saw his face was sad, his eyes downcast. "Sure. It is my job, after all. Come on. We'll go to my office." The young boy followed her, then sat down on the long chair as she seated herself on a lounge chair a few feet away. "So what's on your mind, kid?"

"You...you're a vampire now, right?"

"Yes."

"So does that mean you'll be leaving, or will you still be staying here? I need someone to talk to, even if they all believe me about my mother now."

Julia raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Wait...did you just say they believe you now?"

He looked over to his doctor. "Yeah. She saved us when that witch lady was attacking us."

Julia's jaw nearly hit the floor. She shouldn't be surprised. She herself was a vampire, after all, and she was living with two others, and Angelique apparently was actually a witch, but she had spent so long trying to convince him that it was a delusion that it just seemed strange. "Okay...then will Elizabeth still let me stay here? We haven't exactly gotten along anyways."

"You're basically part of the family by now. She won't kick you out."

"If you say so." Julia laid back in the chair and rested her chin on her hand, which was sitting on the arm of the chair. "So, is that all that was bothering you, or is there more?"

"There's more." He paused, beginning to look a little scared. "Have you...killed anyone?"

The doctor paused for a moment, deciding whether or not she should tell the truth. He bared his soul to her, so didn't she at least owe him the truth? On the other hand, he probably wouldn't take the news well if he knew she had killed not just one, but multiple people in the short time since she had become this blood-sucking creature. "No. I have fed, but only what I needed, and no more. No one died and none of them even remember it happened."

"Then what about Barnabas? He's been one even longer than you. Do you know if he has?"

"Not anyone that I know of." She knew better than anyone how much of a lie that was, but again, didn't want to scar the kid too much. Besides, he had always looked up to Barnabas. He never stopped talking about him before. It was always either him or his mother. It would have been the perfect chance to get revenge on the despicable louse, but it wasn't quite worth the damage it would do to David.

"Good." The child seemed much more relaxed now, having been reassured that both vampires were sane, oblivious to the lies she had just told. "Can I ask one more question?"

"Shoot."

"How did you...you know...become a vampire?"

That was a question she couldn't even think of a lie to cover up. She searched her brain for something, anything, but couldn't think of anything that actually made sense that didn't condemn one of them. Seeing no other option, she decided to take another approach. "That's a long story and not important. Now let me ask you a question. What exactly happened while I was gone? It seems like I missed a lot while I was at Windcliff."

"Yeah." The young boy's expression grew sad again as he recalled the first thing to happen. "My dad left. I don't even know why. He just...left."

"I noticed. I haven't seen him once. What else happened?"

"Well, Angie attacked us. Apparently she was a witch."

"Was?"

"Yeah. My mom got her and I guess it killed her."

Not only was his mother real, but she killed an immortal witch. Between the vampires, ghost, and witch, any logic she knew to be true by now had just gone right out the window. After taking a second to come back to reality, she shook her head a little and asked another question. "Anything else I should know?"

"Carolyn's a werewolf."

A werewolf. Of all things, a werewolf. All they were missing at this point was Frankenstein's monster and a mummy. Yet, as surprised as she knew she should be, she wasn't. By this point she would believe him if he said a fairie flew in and waved a magic wand to summon a unicorn or a dragon. Still, her jaw dropped a little. "Let me guess. She helped fight the witch?"

"Yeah. She bit her and cracked a hole in her shoulder."

Julia's lip raised halfway in a disgusted expression. "Sounds gory."

"Actually it wasn't. For some reason she cracked like she was made of glass, and she looked hollow."

Now a witch made of glass with nothing inside her, yet she felt normal otherwise or else she would have been found out much earlier. (Plus why would Barnabas sleep with someone as hard and cold as glass?) What the hell? Maybe that faerie actually did show up. She sat up again and moved forward on the chair. "Well why don't we leave it here for now. You can come to me again tomorrow if you want."

"Alright. I probably will." David stood up, as did Julia, and hugged her. She stood wide-eyed at the unexpected act of affection. He had never done that before. "Thank you for staying. Aunt Elizabeth might not like you very much, but I don't want you to leave."

Still too much in shock to really do anything, Julia stood motionless as he continued hugging her. He had never seemed to care for her this much. Actually, he never seemed to like her much at all. Maybe it was his father's sudden departure, so he just didn't want anyone else to leave. It would make sense. After figuring that out, she smiled and put her hand on his back (as close to a hug as she could get with him still so much shorter than she was). "Trust me. I'm going to be here a long, long time." David finally let her go and looked up at her with a big smile before running off on his own again.

She sighed, then plopped back into the chair behind her. "What the hell am I doing?" She thought to herself. "I might have to kill him. This is only going to make it harder. I need to stop being so friendly. Why am I even friendly anyways? Oh right, he's the one person here that doesn't think I'm a useless drunk." Speaking of drinking, she still hadn't done that, and she was craving a good glass (or two, or three) of bourbon. She got up to go raid the liquor and took it to a room where she knew she wouldn't be bothered. She ended up not even using the glass she brought and, the next thing she knew, half the bottle was gone. Still she barely felt even a slight buzz. Disappointed and frustrated, she went back in and grabbed two more bottles to take in with her.

After she finished the first bottle, Barnabas came wandering in, having left a book in the same room the day before. "Doctor Hoffman? What are you doing?"

"What does it look like? I'm trying to get drunk, but it's barely doing anything. Is this a vampire thing?" She took her first big swig out of the second bottle.

"Yes. Spirits begin to act faster, but have much less of an effect and don't last very long at all."

"Damn." Julia took another swig and chugged as much as she could, then starting finally getting wobbly and light-headed. "Woo! I think the earth just started spinning even faster."

Barnabas kept a straight face, annoyed by drunkards."Well now that you've got what you want, I'll just get my book and leave you alone."

As he reached for the book sitting on the end table, Julia grabbed his wrist. "No no! Stay with me."

Hesitant and reluctant, he agreed, if only because he didn't want to risk angering her, drunk or not. He sat down next to her and rested his hands in his lap. She immediately laid her head on his shoulder and held onto his arm.

"You're incredibly attractive, you know. It's no wonder Angie wanted you so bad."

The old vampire smiled awkwardly. "Thank you."

Julia turned her head up, still resting her chin on his arm, and looked at him, biting her lip. "You know, I would be willing to do a lot more than pretty little Josette. She seems like she'd be pretty boring in bed. I would do whatever you wanted to, no matter how weird."

"Be that as it may, I love Josette, and not you."

Julia's playful expression turned slightly sad. She sat up and let go of his arm to chug down another quarter of the bottle she was working on, feeling herself sobering up a bit already. "Why not? I love you. Isn't that enough for you? Or are you too spoiled and you need a weak little thing like her to follow you around like a sick puppy?"

"It has nothing to do with that. I love her. That is all the reason I need. If you love me, then why did you steal my blood for your own selfish desires?"

Julia took another big chug out of her bottle. "I didn't see any other choice. There was no way you were ever going to do it." Her expression grew even more sad and her eyes were downcast. "I've wished like hell since I first got here and saw 'Josette' that I had been the one you turned. What does she have that I don't? What made her worthy of immortality and eternal youth, but not me?

Barnabas began to feel pity for the wretched woman before him. She was driven by the same forces as Angelique, both love and revenge (though her loved seemed to be more true), and seemed to have been driven equally mad by them. As such, he felt the need to try and comfort her. "Neither of you is superior to the other. You are both wonderful in your own way." He had barely had time to finish speaking the last word when suddenly her lips were pressed against his own. It was an unexpected move and left him in shock at first.

Meanwhile, she was happy, if only for a moment. He was kind to her, just like he used to be, and she couldn't help herself. She didn't even realize what she was doing until after she did it, thanks to the alcohol still running almost full force through her body. She had done one thing with him before, but it didn't seem to make much of a difference with anything. He still didn't care for her any more than he had before she did it.

Barnabas was conflicted. She was without a doubt a much better kisser than Josette, undoubtedly because she had probably had a lot more practice if she had so willingly done what she did during the first transfusion. Only the Lord knows how many lips (or whatever else) had touched hers before now. Besides, she was forcing him to cheat on Josette. That was unacceptable. He broke the kiss and pushed her away a bit as he moved back slightly. "Stop it. I do not want you in that way, Doctor Hoffman."

Extremely hurt (and still quite drunk), tears began to flow from the doctor's dark eyes. She put her hands to her face to try and hide them, but couldn't stop the sobbing.

Knowing he was the cause of her tears, Barnabas still felt bad for her. She just wanted love, but was looking for it in the wrong place and in the wrong way. Not quite sure what to do, he placed his hand gently on her back and spoke as kindly as he could. "Please, my dear, do not cry. You can find love. It just is not with me."

The alcohol was now beginning to wear off, and as it did, Julia felt increasingly more angry rather than sad. Yes, she stole his blood, but then she gave him hers, and he killed her already as revenge. Now he continued to rub it in her face that he loved Josette and not her. Finally, she snapped. She stood up and yelled, "Fine! Have your precious little Josette. You tried to kill me! I don't even know why I still love you. You're a jackass that keeps luring women in, only to screw them over!" Without another word, she stormed out of the room, leaving Barnabas confused on the couch.

Julia hurried away to her room and slammed the door behind her. She grabbed an old dress that was sitting on the dresser and tore it to shreds, then threw a shoe at the now useless mirror on the vanity, shattering it. Since becoming a vampire, her temper had become far worse and she had lost all ability to control it. If anyone had passed her on her way to her room, they probably would not have left unscathed. She imagined this is what it felt like to have two personalities. Sometimes she felt like her usual self, other times she felt entirely different. She lost her conscience, didn't think twice about killing someone whether she knew them or not, and felt far more seductive. When the second one began to come out, she couldn't stop it, and right now, it was out full force.


	4. Chapter 4

Dinner of that same day came and everyone took their usual seats, Julia seated far away from Barnabas and Josette. The moment the two feuding vampires were both in the room, ever other person in the room could feel the tension in the air so thick they could cut it with a knife. As the orange-haired vampiress began to eat her food, she looked over at Barnabas to see if he was being all lovey-dovey with Josette. To her immense displeasure, they were smiling and joking quietly to each other. Not wanting to torture herself more, she looked back down at her plate.

No sooner had Julia looked away than Barnabas looked up at her instead. She was looking like her usual self. She had the glazed over eyes that come with a hangover but otherwise looked pretty neutral. If it wasn't for the altered appearance, he would think she was back to normal. Josette called his name and broke his attention, his gaze shifting back up to her.

They continued doing the same thing, each staring without the other noticing, for most of the meal. After a while, their gazes finally met, and neither could look away. Julia, at first, began panicking internally. After a few moments, a small smirk crept across her face. She took a bite of her food, and pulled the fork out slowly, sucking on it loosely as she did so, then licking off whatever was left on it. Barnabas' eyes went slightly wider and he, shameful as it may be, was strangely aroused by what she was doing.

"Barnabas!" Josette said in a loud whisper, nudging him in the arm to break his attention away from the woman sitting just a few seats down.

He quickly turned to her and snapped suddenly back into reality. "Oh, I'm sorry, my love. I was thinking about something.

"You weren't thinking about her, were you?

"No no, not at all." He reassured her, even though it was a complete and total lie, with a small smile

Julia grinned again as she spun her fork around on the plate, setting her elbow on the table and resting her chin on the palm of her hand. She caught Barnabas glancing at her again a few moments later. Her grin grew and she bit her pinky, which made him hastily look down at his food again. Finding the obviousness of the whole situation amusing, she quietly laughed a little to herself.

The rest of the meal went by more as usual: mostly quiet, uneventful, and extremely awkward. When she finished, Julia yawned, stretched, then stood up. Without a word, she took her leave and went out the front door. She went for a long walk and, on the way back, heard a noise within the trees around her home. Sensing an opportunity, she followed the noise, rustling and giggling from both a man and a woman, and discovered a young couple being intimate, both fully unclothed. She cleared her throat to announce her presence and they both looked up at her, their eyes glazed over, their mouths opened in large, stupid grins. "Oh heyyyy! Who are you?" the man asked.

"What exactly do you think you're doing?" Julia raised part of her lip in disgust.

"We're just showing our love, man. Nothing wrong with that." the girl said, laughing a little as she spoke.

"Hey!" The man looked like he had just had a great epiphany and stood up. Julia's eyes went a bit wider and she couldn't help but look down. "Why don't you join us, huh? There's always room for more with love!"

"Yeah!" The girl flipped over and laid on her stomach, holding herself up with folded arms. "Come oooon. It would be fun!"

Julia sat speechless for a moment, unsure of what to say. After she realized how well she could take advantage of this situation, she smiled and looked at the man again, this time at his face. "Sure. I guess it couldn't hurt." The couple cheered as she walked towards them, blissfully unaware of what she had in store for them.

After they finished, both women laid on the man's chest, one on each side, as he had his back to a tree. He puffed on a roll of the very thing that had caused them to act like this in the first place, then passed it to the girl. Once she got a puff, she coughed then passed it to Julia, who took it and inhaled deeply. "That was soooo fun." Julia said, acting as if the substance was affecting her more than it really was.

"Yeah. It was." The man agreed.

Julia put her hand on his chest then looked up at him. "Can I do just one more thing?"

"Sure thing, babe. What?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just..." She sat up and kissed his neck, then quickly bit down. Too out of his mind to figure out exactly what was happening, he just winced.

"Whoa, lady, that's a little too rough for me!" He looked down and saw the blood running down his chest, then shouted. The girl sat up and saw it as well, then screamed from sheer terror as the man's eyes drained of life and he fell limp and lifeless before her. Julia's head shot back, her mouth dripping with blood, as she let out a slight moan. The feeling of draining someone's life like that was far more pleasing than what she had just done with them only moments earlier. She licked a little of the blood that had trickled onto her hand, then shifted her gaze to the trembling girl sitting on the ground only a few short feet away from her. She was frozen, unable to move, too scared of what this strange woman might do. Julia pounced on her, pinning her to the ground, and licked her neck to tease her. The girl was trembling like a leaf during a hurricane and Julia grinned again before biting her as well. Within moments, she was just as far gone as her lover.

Julia stood up and licked her lips. She looked down at the lifeless corpse of a young woman beneath her, then noticed that the girl had been lying on her clothes, which were now stained with red. Her grin faded, as the girl's clothes were hideous and she wouldn't be caught dead in them. "Damn." She sighed then got herself dressed again before returning to Collinwood, expecting that everyone (besides maybe Barnabas and Josette) would be asleep, so she should be able to sneak in without being noticed.

As expected, Julia did slip in without seeing anyone, unaware that one pair of eyes did catch sight of her. She made it to her room and shut the door without turning back, only to hear it stopped by someone. She turned and saw Barnabas standing in the doorway with his usual puppy dog-like look. "You've killed again."

"Yeah. So? It's not like this is a surprise to you. Now could you shut the door before someone hears you?"

"I suppose it is best not to risk worrying the family." The old vampire slipped into the room and shut the door quietly behind him. Julia grabbed a lighter and a cigarette from off a dresser then sat on the bed cross-legged. "I take it you're going to lecture me again?" She put the cigarette in her mouth and lit it, then blew a cloud of smoke into the air in front of her.

"I only wish to ask you one question."

She held the cigarette between two fingers and switched her crossed legs around. "Shoot, bat boy."

Barnabas swallowed hard and couldn't help staring as she moved her legs, her dress being rather short. He cleared his throat then walked a few steps closer to her. "Why do you continue to kill others?"

The vampiress took another puff on her cigarette and sat silently for a few moments as the smoke slowly leaked out of her mouth, looking up at her visitor. "I don't fight my natural impulses."

"Why? I fight it every moment that I still remain living, and Josette has yet to even taste the blood of man. Would you rather be a monster?"

"Look. Just because you would rather supress what you are and live in denial doesn't mean I would. If I'm going to live forever, I'd rather enjoy myself."

"But that will only guarantee your damnation should you ever actually die."

Julia stood up and approached the vampire, taking another puff and blowing it in his face, making him cough. "Just being what we are ensures damnation. We feed off of blood, the very life force that keeps both humans and other creatures alive. We literally drain the life of our victims every time, no matter how much we take."

"You do not even wish to try?"

"What, and give up that amazing, wonderful feeling as I sink my teeth into the warm flesh of someone's neck, tasting the delicious, crimson blood that flows from the wounds, then watching as the last light of life leaves their eyes?" She bit her lip and shuddered from the very thought of it. "That is the greatest pleasure in the world."

Barnabas took a step back and reached his hand out behind him, attempting to grab the doorknob but still being too far away. "It is not as wonderful as you say if it is followed by immense guilt."

Julia moved towards him as quickly as he moved away. "Are you saying you don't enjoy it, Barnabas?" She flicked the cigarette away and held her hand behind her back, balling into a fist so tight that her claws dug into her own skin. "That you don't enjoy...this?" She lifted her hand up and held it in front of his face, then let her fingers glide lightly down his cheek. Instinctively, he held onto her tiny little hand and held it to his mouth, sucking on the open wound. Within moments, however, he realized what he was doing and snapped on her. He launched himself at her and pinned her to the bed, his hand firmly around her throat. "Do not tempt me, you vile woman!"

Though it was extremely strained, Julia managed to somehow speak. "If I can tempt you, you're not as innocent as you think." She winced as he tightened his grip, her voice becoming even more strained. "Please...not again..."

In that instant as she begged for her life, the old vampire realized what he was doing, and that he was only sinking back to her level. He eased his grip and released her, but remained silent. She laid still for a few moments, breathing heavily, then sat back up. "It's really pointless, Barnabas. You think you can fight it, but you can't. You will never be rid of your true nature, even if Angelique is gone. Fight it all you want, but it will always be there, no matter how much you try to deny it."

Barnabas still remained silent, her words catching him off guard. She spoke the truth, no matter how much he hated to admit it. He knew full well that he would be forever fighting his murderous impulses as long as he lived. He had thought it worth it, but she mentioned the one part that had never crossed his mind. Angelique, who had brought the curse on him in the first place, was now dead, and her curse had not been undone. Now, without her, there was no possible way to ever break it. Could he really fight against himself for so long? His mind now reeling, he quickly left the room without another word.

Julia rubbed her neck where he had held it, then stood up to grab another cigarette. She stared at it for a moment and eventually put it back. All she could think about now, after having him choke her, was that same question she had already asked herself a million times. Why did she still love him? Why would she still be in love with a man that had killed her once and had attempted to kill her at least once since then?


	5. Chapter 5

A few hours later, Julia went wandering about the manor to kill a bit of time since she still wasn't tired. She heard Barnabas and Julia talking again but, this time, her instincts did not tell her to avoid them. This time they told her to take a quick peek, so she did just that. Luckily the door was cracked again, so she approached it as quietly as she could, and stared in at the couple, sitting again on a couch in nearly the exact same positions as before. She listened for a moment, feeling as though she might actually like what she hears this time.

"I love you, my darling." Josette said softly, reaching up to caress her lover's cheek.

"I," he paused briefly, "I love you too."

Josette's smile faded due to his hesitation. "You know I always will. I already waited 200 years for you."

"And I waited for you."

"And before you seemed just as in love as you were before. Now you seem...distant."

"I am not distant, or at least I do not mean to be."

Josette set her hand back down and rested her arm across her stomach on top of her other. "Are you sure you still love me?"

"Of course I do." He spoke with such little feeling that anyone could have figured out he was lying. Satisfied, Julia smiled as she slunk away and back to her room.

"Barnabas, really, tell me what's going on."

"I just have had a lot on my mind lately. Nothing more."

"Tell me what it is. Please, darling, I just want to help."

"I do not wish to talk about it right now. Please leave it at that."

Josette was hurt by his words. Not only was he clearly becoming attracted to that useless, drunken psychopath, but now he wasn't talking to her. Maybe he was actually falling out of love with her. She didn't think it was actually possible after 200 years, but now wasn't as sure. "If you'll excuse me." She got up off of him and walked out of the room, leaving him alone, not uttering a single word more. 

* * *

The next morning, breakfast came again, but this time the tension was not between Julia and Barnabas, but between the vampire and his lover. The tension was so great that one could almost feel the electricity in the air. Sensing it clearly, Julia couldn't help but smile at first. She might not have been really going out of her way to try and break them up, but apparently it was happening anyways, and she could only assume that she was the cause.

Barnabas noticed the look of happiness on her face throughout the meal, and followed her as she left the table and went up to her room to get something. He entered and shut the door behind him. Before she could even turn to see who was there, he had her pinned to the bed again, holding her wrists above her head. "Stay away from me and Josette."

Julia smiled playfully. "Your voice tells me no, but your eyes are telling me yes."

"SILENCE!"

"Oo-hoo, so you like to be in charge, do you? Keep throwing me to the bed like this and I'll do whatever you want, bat boy." She giggled and squirmed around beneath him, feeling strangely aroused by all of this.

"I said SILENCE!" he snarled, baring his fangs as clear as day, his eyes filled with an anger the likes of which she had yet to see from him. She liked it. "Stop trying to come between Josette and me. I will never be yours, you evil thing." He tightened his grip on her wrists to the point his claws pierced the skin.

"Oh really? You sure seemed to like me yesterday when I gave you my hand, and don't think I haven't noticed you staring at me, you naughty man."

The vampire narrowed his eyes and flicked one hand, holding onto hers and breaking her wrist in the process. She let out a cry of pain, but not quite a scream. She knew it would heal, but that didn't make it hurt any less. She realized now that joking was clearly not her best option. "You succubus. You're trying to seduce me away from my beloved. You will not succeed."

Now crying, Julia began to struggle to try and free herself. "No I am not! If you're falling for me, it's not my fault!" She screamed louder than she had in a long time as he bent her wrist in the opposite direction, just as far. "Please! I swear! I'm really not trying to!" Technically, she wasn't lying. She flirted, but she wasn't purposely trying to lure him away.

Barnabas finally let her go and stood up straight. "I want you out of this house. We were perfectly happy before you showed your face around here again."

Julia sat up and held her hand to stop it from moving until it healed. "Need I remind you what I will do if you try to make me leave? I could kill you just as easily as you could kill me, and I could kill them even easier."

"You deserve to burn into deepest circle of hell, you foul demon." With that, Barnabas left her alone again. As soon as her door was closed, Julia couldn't help but smile. He was clearly falling for her, whether she was trying to make him or not. If she was having this much of an effect so quickly, she was sure it wouldn't be long before he finally gave in.

It was a matter of mere minutes before the door swung open suddenly again and the other half of the couple came barging in. Clearly sweet little Vicki had become a bit more bold and straightforward since she became the vampiric "Josette". "I'm only going to tell you this once, Julia. Back off. Stay away from me and, more importantly, stay away from Barnabas."

"Look, sweetie, I'm not about to go anywhere. I haven't done anything. If your boyfriend is falling in love with me instead of an annoyingly good and nice little thing like you that's sickeningly sweet enough to give everyone around her cavities, then I suppose he's just gaining some sense in that inflated head of his."

Josette began to look enraged, which is something Julia had never actually seen, even while living with Vicki. "Get out. Get out of this house right now."

"Nope. Sorry. I'm here to stay." Julia stood up and put one hand on her hip, still trying to avoid using the other and being as careful with it as she possibly could without alerting Josette to the fact it was injured. As she spoke, she slowly inched closer and closer to the other vampiress. "You're not the head of this house. I don't care how much you don't like me, or how much you think I'm wrecking your relationship, which I'm not even trying to do. I'm not leaving, little miss perfect, whether you like it or not."

Speechless as well as slightly terrified, Josette backed away as Julia got closer, then finally opened the door and hurried out of the room. Julia sat back down on the bed and grinned, feeling very accomplished. Not only did she have Barnabas spooked, but Josette as well. It was pretty obvious how this was going to end up, and it was a very happy ending for her.

* * *

Night came and none of the Collinwood vampires associated with each other at all unless it was absolutely necessary. Josette was angry with both Barnabas and Julia. Barnabas was scared and ashamed to be near Josette, and scared to go near Julia, partially because of her new personality and partially because of how angry she kept making him, during which he scared himself. Julia just kept to herself and watched from a distance as their two centuries long relationship crumbled, enjoying every minute of it. That night, however, after the rest of the household was asleep, Julia happened upon Barnabas out on the balcony, looking extremely distracted and completely lost in thought. She approached him from behind then tapped his shoulder as he was clearly too far away to even notice she was there. He was slightly startled and turned to see who was there, and saw a concerned Julia. "Oh. It is you, Doctor Hoffman. Why have you come here?"

"You look like something's on your mind. What's wrong?"

Barnabas continued looking out into the town below, trying to ignore her presence. "Nothing is wrong. Now be on your way."

"Barnabas. You can't lie to me. Clearly something is wrong. You've got the whole lovesick, tragic, Dracula thing going on right now." She walked towards the rail on the edge and held onto it, leaning on her arms. "I always liked Dracula."

Barnabas glanced over at her and, for a moment, his gaze met hers. "Is that right?"

"Yep. He was always my favorite movie monster." She looked out to where he was once again staring and sighed. "The view actually is pretty from out here." The vampire stayed silent, trying to ignore her presence. She wasn't about to let that happen. "I think I know what is wrong with you right now."

"Pray tell, madam."

Julia turned her head to look at him again. "You don't know who you love anymore: me," she paused for a moment, "or sweet little Josette." Judging from the change in his expression, she had a feeling she had hit the nail right on the head. Since he still didn't say anything, she turned back to face the town again and continued. "All I can say is that you must not really love her too much if your heart can be so easily swayed. If it was really true love, you wouldn't be having this issue right now."

"But I don't-" Before he could even finish his sentence, Julia had grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him in for a surprise kiss, even deeper than the one she had planted upon his lips before. At first, he was too surprised and feeling too guilty to do anything about it. After a few moments, he realized she had been right and relaxed into it, returning the kiss and holding her in a close embrace.

Julia ended the kiss and laid her hand flat on his chest instead of gripping his shirt. "You know you just cheated on Josette, right? You've now betrayed your precious 'true love'." She let both of her hands slither up his chest and up until her arms were wrapped around his neck. "And you don't seem to be fighting it."

"You were right, my dear. If my heart has truly been stolen by you, then my feelings for her clearly were not as strong and eternal as I thought them to be."

"Then why don't you dump her ass so we can actually be together?"

Barnabas paused for a moment before answering and sighed deeply. "It would destroy her."

"Is she really that invested in your relationship?"

"I'm afraid she is."

Julia's lips curved into a slight smirk just before she spoke. "Oh well. So long as I can still have you, even in secret, I am definitely not complaining." She raised a hand to the back of his head to pull him in for another kiss, just as passionate as the one only a few moments earlier. He broke the kiss to grab her hand and slowly spin her around, trapping her in his embrace from behind. Her own head automatically tilted as he softly kissed her neck, giving him easier access. (For reasons even she couldn't explain, she seemed to like it even more now than she did before he tried to kill her. It gave her a strange sort of thrill.) She closed her eyes and he held onto her other hand to raise her arm up and kissed repeatedly along it. She cringed slightly and bit her lip as she felt his fangs sink into the soft flesh of her wrist, the blood running down her arm. "You know I hate you, right? You did kill me, after all."

The vampire pulled his fangs out and licked his lips. "Just as I hate you, my dear doctor. You've become a mad monster, and you tricked me to steal my blood."

Julia smiled again as he kissed her bleeding wrist. "Well that's obviously a lie. Otherwise we wouldn't be doing this."

"Well, my darling," he began, lifting his hand that had been holding hers around her stomach to her chin and turning her to face more towards him, "you are simply too beautiful to resist." He kissed her as deeply and passionately as she had kissed him now twice before. She somehow found the taste of her own blood on his lips only added to her excitement. He had taken her blood twice now, but this time she both liked and willingly allowed it. This time it was out of love.


	6. Chapter 6

Once their little romantic rendezvous came to an end and they both went their separate ways, Barnabas went to a bathroom to wash himself off. He splashed water on his face then looked at himself in the mirror, feeling a sudden insurgence of guilt, even though he couldn't actually see the blood that was surely smeared around his mouth. Julia was right. He was deceiving Josette, who he had loved for a whole two centuries. If he had just broken up with her, it would have killed her, but she surely would have gotten over it eventually. Now he may as well just drain a lemon on the wound it would create. And yet, he couldn't fully regret what had happened. He enjoyed himself. It was as if all the hatred he had harbored towards her had flipped around and gone to the other end of the spectrum. He could no longer picture the quiet life with Josette that he could before. Now he thought of an exciting life with Julia, never without a hint of danger for both of them.

After he finished cleaning himself off, he went up to bed and laid down next to Josette. She was already facing him, though he was facing away, and opened her eyes a little as she felt him hit the bed. "Where have you been?" she mumbled groggily.

He paused for a split second, running through a million ideas for excuses he could use, eventually deciding on, "I was reading a book."

"Oh. Well did you like whatever it was?"

"Yes, very much."

"Good." She cuddled up closely behind him and tossed an arm over him. He took her hand and kissed it once, then returned it to its original position and rubbed it with his thumb. "I love you."

Again, the vampire hesitated briefly. He only hoped she didn't notice. "I love you too, my dear."

* * *

The next day went by rather smoothly and was fairly uneventful for the most part. There was still the obvious tension between all three vampires for various reasons, but overall not a lot happened. Once it was dark enough to go out without protection, Julia slipped out of the front door unnoticed and went off to a place she hadn't been to for quite a while: The Blue Whale pub. She entered and approached the bartender, then ordered her drink. As she waited for it to be prepared, a man came up beside her and said, "I'll pay for it, and anything else this lovely lady orders."

Julia turned to look at the man and saw he was actually rather attractive. Short brown hair, muscular athletic build without being too Hulk-like, and dressed nicely. He wasn't exactly the type you would expect to pick up at a bar. Still, she definitely wasn't complaining. "Well thank you! And who, may I ask, is it paying for my drinks?"

"I'm John." He held his hand out and, when she gave him hers in return, he took it like a gentleman and kissed it gently. "And who might you be?"

She was surprised by his politeness. He actually didn't seem to be faking the civility, unlike most guys the met here that tried to act fancy to impress her, or whoever else they might be hitting on. "Julia."

"A fitting name; as beautiful as you are."

She couldn't quite tell if that was supposed to be a pickup line or if he actually meant it. This guy was confusing. "Uh...thank you." She noticed her drink had been served, walked over to a table, and took a swig of it. She and John, who sat with her, continued to talk for a while, and she had downed five drinks by the time he had drunk two. And yet, to his surprise, she still seemed fairly sober.

"Are you a heavy drinker usually?"

"Why yes, I'm definitely not a light-weight by any means. Why do you ask?"

"You're just going through a lot rather fast, and yet you still seem to have kept your head pretty well."

"Yeah, I'm just naturally talented like that." She mumbled to herself something about cursing her blood, which thankfully was quiet enough that he didn't understand it, and took another swig.

John was starting to like her. She was attractive, though a bit strange, and there was something else attracting him, something else that he wasn't quite sure of. Something about her was almost hypnotic and he was caught hopelessly under her spell. "How would you like to go somewhere else where we can be alone?"

Julia looked over at him with a seductive grin. "Well if that's what we're going to do, then I better hurry and finish this. Bottoms up!" She raised the bottle she had been working on to her lips and gradually lifted it to point to the ceiling as she drained it of every last drop she could. She set it down then stood up. "I know a perfect place. It's got a bit of a bad reputation, but it's actually really romantic."

John finished off what little was left of his drink as well, stood up, and walked around the table to offer his arm to Julia. "Lead the way, my dear." Julia took his arm, still surprised by his gentlemanly charms, and led him all the way up through a forest not far from Collinwood. "Are we almost there?"

"Yeah, almost. Trust me, it's worth it!" Julia smiled and continued to lead him. Eventually they arrived at the edge of the trees, overlooking a cliff that had seen the death of countless women, driven over the edge by intense sorrow and grief.

John stared blankly for a moment, then raised an eyebrow and looked at Julia. "Widow's Hill? This is romantic?"

"Well look at it!" She grabbed his hand and led him near the edge, then pointed with her other hand at various things as she talked. "You can see the moon so clearly, and all the stars since we're so far from even the little bit of light pollution you get from down in Collinsport. And the waves down there are so beautiful."

He looked down at the waves, crashing onto the sharp rocks and unforgivingly hard and solid shore. He imagined the women's bodies that had all been there and could easily be waiting just below them, washed away into caves carved into the wall of rock by those very same waves. "If you say so."

Julia took him just slightly away from the edge, then kissed him. Even if the environment was a bit strange and unconventional, he wasn't complaining. She lifted her hands up to cup his cheeks as he wrapped his arms around her waist. After a few moments, her hands wandered, one up to the back of his head, and the other arm wrapped loosely around his neck. She stopped kissing him just long enough to look at him and smile again, this time her fangs in clear view. As she had been hoping, she could see the fear suddenly grow in his eyes the moment he saw them. She then kissed him again, but much rougher, and bit his lip as she did, enjoying the little teaser of what was to come. He tried to pull away, but her arms were firmly around him now, and she easily held him in place. After pulling her lips from his again, she pulled his head to the side, opening up his neck into full view. "Don't worry. It'll only hurt for a few seconds."

"No, no, please!"

"Hush. There's nothing worse than noisy food." Truthfully, she liked it when her victims begged. Either way, his pleas fell on deaf ears and, within seconds, her fangs were buried as deep as they could be within the flesh of his neck, and a trail of deep crimson flowed down from the corner of her mouth. Within a few more seconds, she was the only thing keeping him standing. His entire body was pale and empty of the blood that had been coursing through his body only a few moments earlier. "Such a shame. I actually kind of liked you. But I've got Barnabas now. He's more than enough for me." She dragged his body to the edge of the cliff and dropped it off, watching it as it fell and crashed to the rocky shore below.

Meanwhile Barnabas was heading through the forest himself to a pre-arranged meeting with his new lover. He saw her overlooking the infamous cliff and quietly snuck up behind her, holding onto her arms as he spoke the first word so as not to accidentally scare her over the edge. "Do you see something of interest down there?"

Julia was startled at first, then turned around and looked at the vampire. "No. Just looking. Did anyone follow you?"

"No. I did not detect any sort of presence following me on my way here." The vampiress smiled and threw her arms around Barnabas, smashing her lips to his for a long-awaited kiss. While Barnabas did enjoy it, there was something a bit different about what he tasted. There was something added, and it was something he hadn't tasted since he bit Josette; fresh human blood. He pulled away slightly and looked at Julia solemnly. "Why am I tasting fresh blood? Have you killed someone recently?"

"Yeah. Just before you got here, I fed off a guy and tossed him off the cliff." She wrapped her arms a bit tighter and shot him with a playful look."That doesn't scare you away, does it?"

Barnabas' eyes met with hers and, though no vampiric powers were being used by either party, he still felt entranced by her. Somehow her admittance of murder just then excited him even more. "On the contrary, it only makes me want you more, my dear." He moved his head down, and hers instinctively moved to the side again. He gently kissed her neck and her arms moved down to wrap around his middle instead, her hands up near his shoulder blades. His fangs penetrated her pale flesh again, this time into her neck rather than her wrist. Her teeth clenched and her fingers curled as she felt that sharp, piercing pain. Her claws began to dig into his back as it continued, which, strangely, he rather liked. However, as much as he enjoyed the taste of her blood flowing through the two tiny little twin wounds he had just created, he didn't want to kill or seriously harm her, so he pulled back a bit. She brought her hands back around and stared for a moment at the red coating that was now on the tips of her fingers. Her gaze shifted up to Barnabas as she licked a couple of them clean, then she suddenly pounced forwards onto him, knocking him onto his back. Her eyes were overflowing with both a lust and a love that would both finally be satisfied, yet glistened with a wildness that was clearly accented by the seductive curve of her lips. He wrapped his arms around her and they shared another kiss, long and deep.

"You ready to take me, bat boy?" She asked as the kiss ended.

"Only so long as you are ready to give, my love."

Julia moved one of his hands down to her backside and her grin grew. "I'll give you whatever you want. Just take it."

Without another word, Barnabas kissed her again, then licked the wounds he had created earlier. They were now healed, but had continued to leak blood rapidly for a few moments. "Then you, my darling, are all mine."

* * *

It was now Josette's turn to go wandering through those bleak woods, for the first time not with the sole purpose of throwing herself off the famed cliff. She didn't call out for him, but was looking for her husband. Once she got close enough to where the vampiric couple was lying together, she began to smell blood, familiar blood, the blood of a certain orange-haired doctor. Her hopes began to rise and she considered the fact he may have killed her again. Never in her lives would she have been so glad to have seen someone dead.

Her hopes of Julia's death were quickly dashed however, as she got even closer, and began to hear sounds from them. She heard groaning and loud cries, but none sounded as if they were caused by pain. She knew exactly what they were, but still tried to tell herself it wasn't true as she continued towards them. Once she poked her head out from in between a few trees and peeked out to see them, she saw the undeniable, heartbreaking truth. Two pale bodies were intertwined, and a bit bloody, their faces forming expressions of sheer pleasure. She saw more of her husband than she thought he would ever reveal outside, and more of the doctor than she had ever wanted to see period. She clapped her hand over her mouth to silence a scream, then turned and ran as fast as she could back to Collinwood, tears falling freely from her crystal eyes.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for being a tad slow this time! I work two jobs and they've been kicking my butt lately. . But the next chapter should be up fairly soon! If I'm correct, it'll also be the grand finale, so stay tuned for more! ;D


	7. Chapter 7

Once they finished, Julia lay beneath Barnabas and he fell down to lay by her side. "Oh God, that was even better than I thought it would be." Julia said, staring up at the cloudy sky.

"I must admit that it was rather enjoyable, and much more...interesting than usual."

She turned her head to look at him. "Oh just say it. We're both covered in blood already. That was kinky as hell."

Barnabas looked embarrassed by the very thought of using such language, so he merely replied with, "Yes, I suppose it was."

Julia rolled over and kissed him again, placing her hand on his cheek. "But I'm afraid you should probably get back before little miss Josette has a conniption."

"Yes. You are right." He slid her hand down from his cheek to his mouth and kissed her palm, then got up and got himself fully clothed again. She did the same, and again they met for one last, long, passionate kiss before he headed back to Collinwood. He arrived and managed to avoid Josette, going about his usual business without interruption.

Julia waited a few minutes after he left, then she made her way back home. Her arrival, however, was not so peaceful, as she happened to walk through the door right as Josette had entered the room. "You." Josette threw the box of tissues she was holding at Julia. "You little bitch!"

Julia cringed a little after being hit by the flimsy box, more out of surprise than by it actually hurting. "Hey, watch it! What did I do?"

Josette's eyes burned with a rage none, not even Barnabas had ever seen before, as she marched down the stairs to meet the orange-haired vampiress. "You took my Barnabas from me, you little harlot! You slut! You home-wrecker!"

It appeared the jig was up. Unfortunately Julia was too surprised by Josette's anger and language that she didn't react much. "I'm sorry, what was that? Did you just call me a slut?"

"Uh-huh, yeah, I did, you rotten little witch."

"Look, sweetie, don't go blaming me for this. He came to me, not the other way around. I tried getting him to tell you, but he wouldn't because it would break your pretty little heart."

Josette's fingers balled into fists at her sides and she closed her eyes for a moment as she screamed, "SHUT UP!" She then bolted for Julia, slamming her into the wall, and clawing at her face like crazy.

Julia sat and took the blows for a few seconds, still too confused, but quickly realized that she was getting her butt handed to her by Josette, of all people, and kicked her off. "Remember, little missy, you started this. You signed your own death warrant."

"The only one of us who's going to die here tonight is you."

The two vampires each raced for the other, clashing in the center of the room. Julia swept her leg underneath the other and tripped her, then stomped on her stomach as hard as she could. "Don't get so cocky. We both know who of us is the killer."

Josette grabbed Julia's ankle and slammed her down hard into the ground beside her, then sat back up. "I've never wanted to kill someone so much in my life!"

Julia lunged at her again and they continued exchanging blows as, soon, the entire household had gathered. Elizabeth rushed in first, shouting, "What is all this noise about?!" She froze when she saw what it was, and the two women showed no sign of even hearing her. Then came David, then Carolyn, then Willie, all standing agape at the scene playing out before them. Claws slashed, fists flew, kicks landed, and the number of holes around the entrance hall was increasing by the second. Barnabas came running in, recognizing the screams and shouts he was hearing as his two lovers, and stopped next to Elizabeth.

"What is going on out here?"

Elizabeth had an idea of what might be causing it, but didn't actually voice it. "Something seems to have set these two off."

"Clearly."

"Well there's no way any of us can even hope to stop it." The feuding women took out a few stairs as Josette hit them hard. "Would you please put an end to this before they destroy the entire house...again?"

Barnabas nodded, then approached their makeshift arena. "Please! Stop this fighting! This is not how I wish it to end!"

The women didn't even pause their fighting as they both screamed at Barnabas. "Shut up, you adulterous bastard!" (Josette) "Don't blame me! This bitch attacked me first!" (Julia)

Barnabas stepped closer, but stopped as Julia swung Josette around, barely missing Barnabas on the way, and slammed her into a wall. Josette fell to the ground, then looked up at where she had hit, noticing a long piece of wood sticking straight out, counting herself lucky she hadn't hit it. She looked back at Julia and spit out blood as she approached her. For a few moments that seemed to last forever, the two simply stared at each other, both covered in blood, their breaths heavy and laborious. Finally Josette broke the standoff by stabbing Julia in the stomach with her claws. Julia pretended it was affecting her more than it was, playing on the pain she was definitely feeling. (Barnabas believed it as well, and had to stop himself from running out to help her.) "How...how could you kill someone? I thought you vowed against that!"

Josette's anger subsided a bit and she suddenly began to feel guilty. What she said was true. She had vowed never to kill. However, she still thought this death would be justified in the long run, but the momentary doubt did give Julia at least enough time to rip out a large chunk of flesh from Josette's neck. When Josette recoiled backwards, she involuntarily did the same to Julia's stomach as her fingers clenched from the sudden pain, paired with her moving backwards.

Barnabas wanted to shout for Julia, wanted to help her, but no one yet knew of his infidelity. His pride won out, and he shouted instead for Josette, though he didn't get any nearer to attempt to help her.

When Julia heard that word, that one disgusting word, pass his lips, all she saw was red, her vision stained with anger as well as the blood of that pathetic excuse for a vampire: Josette. She acted purely on impulse now, suddenly hardly even fazed by the gaping hole in her stomach. She lunged at the other vampiress and, before anyone else could even realize what was happening, her hand was deeply embedded into Josette's chest, grasping the most vital of organs. She constricted her fingers slightly, and Josette cringed. "Even a vampire can't live without this." She curled her fingers slowly tighter until, finally, there was a distinctive squish and the life instantly drained from Josette's eyes. Her lifeless body fell to the floor, and Julia's lips curved into a sadistic grin.

The entire household simply stared, their eyes wide and their mouths agape. Elizabeth was holding both Carolyn and David close to her, instinctively protecting them. David hid his face away, buried in Elizabeth's dress. None of them could believe what they had just seen, and none had ever seen such a gory sight in person before. In movies, sure, but never right before their own eyes. A long silence followed, until three words broke it.

"Is she...dead?"

Julia made her way over to the vampire that started this all, licking her fingers as she wandered lazily towards him. Once she was right in front of him, she finally answered his question. "Why yes, she is. Her heart broke beyond repair, I'm afraid."

Barnabas was conflicted. He may not have loved Josette anymore, but nor did he hate her or want her dead for any reason. However, he was again undeniably attracted to Julia's bloodlust and sadism. It gave him a familiar thrill and a rush he had come to love so much. "Is that so?"

"Yep. I broke it." She ran her hand slowly down his cheek and back down, leaving a still-bloody finger to loll behind momentarily in his mouth.

Barnabas tried to resist, trying to give Josette more respect than to immediately go straight to Julia after her death, but the look in her dark eyes was too much. He held onto her arms and pulled her in, then kissed her. She slid her arms out of his grip to wrap them up around his neck. He, in turn, pulled her into a close embrace.

Meanwhile, everyone else could still do nothing but stare. They were unsure of how to process all that had just happened. Josette dying had been shocking enough, but now Barnabas didn't even seem affected, and on top of that he had gone straight to Julia of all people. Elizabeth, especially, was confused. She thought she knew her distant cousin so well. She was the only person that knew he was a vampire for the longest time, after all, and the first one he told his story to as well as the only one he told willingly since Julia had hypnotized him to hear it. Yet, he seemed unfazed by his "true love" dying a violent death, and was in the arms (and the mouth) of her killer. She cleared her throat and spoke. "Uh...Barnabas? Would you mind explaining what just happened?"

Both vampires snapped back into reality, having lost touch with it for a bit, lost in their own strangely romantic moment. "Oh. Yes. Of course. Could I possibly explain later?"

"I'd rather-"

"Oh buzz off, Liz!" Julia interrupted. "Leave him alone for now. It's not like I'm going to kill anyone else, so calm down. You can interrogate him all you want later."

Elizabeth said nothing and corralled the children away. Willie quickly wandered off on his own, not wanting to be involved in any way.

"Well, my dear, it seems we are alone again."

"Yeah. So it does." Julia grinned and ran her hand down his cheek, her gaze locked with his. "Truly, entirely alone, with no more looming threat of Josette finding out."

While he was still a sad about her passing, here and now, with her piercing gaze having captured his, clearly unwilling to give it up any time soon, he couldn't feel too sad. He had the one he loved now. His only regret is that it had to be in such a bloody and violent way. "Yes." He began to dip her down a little bit, caressing her neck with his fingertips. How he ached to drink from her again. "You are now completely mine."

Where he felt sad, even if it was only a little bit for the time being, she felt victorious and proud. She felt as if she had just killed that one fly that's been buzzing around the house for days and annoying the hell out of you, but you could never catch it, only it was times a hundred. "You say that like I wasn't before."

"But now you are mine freely, and I am also yours."

Julia's grin grew. "Now you're talking." She pulled him in for another kiss. His lips soon trailed off down to her neck, where her skin was once again broken. The bitter crimson liquid drained out where he punctured it and he sucked it up slowly (so as not to really harm her), savoring the taste now even more than ever. She caught herself moaning slightly as he she felt his fangs penetrate her pale flesh and, just as he did, found herself enjoying it even more than she ever had before. After a few moments, three words popped out of her mouth that never thought she would say again and mean them quite so much, but this was the first time she truly dared say them. "I love you, Barnabas."

The old vampire released her neck for just a moment to reply. "And I love you, my dear Julia."

She smiled, then found herself clutching the back of his shirt, her mouth agape and a sharp gasp escaping from it. His fingers had done the same to her back, curling to claw at it, shredding the flesh beneath them as well as her dress, and bit her neck again. Soon, she relaxed into it and wrapped her arms tighter, not entirely sure she wanted him to stop, even though it was likely to kill her if he continued much longer.

He, meanwhile, looked up to glance over at Josette's lifeless body, then clawed even harder, enjoying the slight whimper he heard after. He meant it when he said he loved her, yet it was just as much of a lie as it was the truth. He loathed and despised her with every fiber of his being, yet he cared for and worshiped her just as much. He had never felt such a thing before, but felt it now for this psychotic psychiatrist (the irony of which even he wasn't oblivious to), and he never wanted it to end.


End file.
